Chicken, bacon and ranch are a classic combo, whether they’re on a pizza, sandwich, or even in a salad. But have you ever had them in a broccoli salad? Salads don’t usually excite me because they’re often unsubstantial, and honestly, kind of boring. Using broccoli in place of lettuce blows regular salad out of the park. It’s hearty, crunchy, way more nutritious than lettuce, AND can be refrigerated and eaten for the next few days.
1cupranch dressingthe one from my cookbook is BOMB
Instructions
Prep the brocc. Cut the broccoli florets into manageable, bite-sized pieces. I like to cut them pretty small so they’re easy to spoon in. Feel free to use the stems as well, just make sure you’re using a pound total of brocc.
Prep the tendie coating. Preheat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the upper and lower thirds of the owne. Ready a sheet pan with cooling rack set inside (line the cooling rack with parchment or foil for easy clean up). To 3 separate, shallow bowls/containers, add the flour, egg and finely crushed bran flakes. Add 1 tsp paprika and cayenne to the flour, a tbsp of water to the eggs, and a tbsp of paprika and remaining tsp of cayenne to the bran flakes. Liberally salt each, then mix each separately till the dry ingredients are well incorporated and the eggs are homogenous.
Coat and bake the tendies. Salt your tenders on each side, then dredge in the flour, coating evenly and shaking off any excess. Repeat with the egg and bran flakes, really pressing the flakes into the chicken to help them stick. Arrange the tenders on the cooling rack/sheet pan, then spray with oil on each side. I usually do a solid few seconds of spraying between all the tenders on each side to really coat them. Then bake for around 15 minutes, or until the internal temp is about 160°F. Start the chicken on the top rack, and move to the bottom rack once you add the prosciutto. When done, remove, let cool slightly, then chop into bite-sized pieces.
Cook the prosciutto. Arrange the prosciutto slices on a baking sheet, and when the chicken has 10 minutes left, replace the chicken on the rop rack of the oven and move the chicken to the bottom rack. Bake for 10 minutes, or until deeply reddish brown in color and shrunken in size a bit. It won’t be crispy right out of the oven, but let it sit for a few minutes and it will.
Assemble. To a large, wide bowl or serving dish, add the broccoli florets, chicken tendie pieces, most of the green onion and flax seeds (or toasted sesame seeds), and ranch. Shatter the prosciutto on top (you can just crush it in your hands and sprinkle on) and toss to combine. Top with remaining green onion and seeds and enjoy immediately!
Notes
I use a food processor to crush my bran flakes, but you can also pulse them in a blender or crush them in a plastic bag as well!
Nutrition includes the Rockin’ Ranch recipe from my cookbook, which uses a combo of mayo and Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, garlic, lemon, and of course, collagen. 😉
Nutrition also includes Heritage Flakes brand bran flakes, avocado oil spray, and standard packaged chicken tenders. Ingredients like the bran flakes and chicken tenders, which are not listed on the USDA’s database, only include the nutritional info you see listed on food labels, and not a comprehensive list of micronutrients. For that reason, the micronutrient highlights below might not include all nutrients in the recipe.
The safe eating temp for chicken is 165°F, but there will be some careover cooking once the tenders are removed from the oven. Taking them out just under that temp will help the chicken to be overcooked and dry. Nobody likes dry chicken!
I'm a big eater, a huge fan of pasta (and mac n cheese), and I'm on a mission to prove that indulgence and balance can exist well together without silly restrictions or dieting. Life's too short to eat bad food!
